The present invention relates to a display arrangement for motor vehicles and the like and more particularly, to a central display arrangement of running or driving data for motor vehicles, etc. in which a plurality of indications, (for example, an abnormal operating state or trouble warning display function for indicating an abnormal operating state or troubles at selected inspection positions of a motor vehicle, a response display indication function for display selected running conditions of a motor vehicle in response to call instructions entered by a driver, and also a time indicating display function), are centralized in a single display portion.
Following the recent trend towards improvements in quality directed toward the manufacture of a higher class of motor vehicles, new diversified equipment have been employed and, for example, besides providing an ordinary stereophonic player and digital clock, etc., which are commonly provided in motor vehicles, and in addition to providing the abnormal operating state or trouble warning display devices, (i.e., the so-called safety monitors for indicating detected problems such as the wearing out of brake pads, broken filaments of various lamps, etc.), a response display device is provided which indicates, in response to call instructions entered by a driver, the average fuel cost, the estimated fuel requirements until arrival at a predetermined destination, the expected time of arrival at the predetermined destination the average vehicle speed, etc. Such response display indications are provided through direct utilization or processing by the calculation of the measured data signals, (for example, of running distance, vehicle speed, remaining fuel, running time and the like), which vary as the motor vehicle continues to run.
The abnormal operating state display device, the response display device, the clock used as the time display device, etc. as described above are commonly mounted separately on an instrument panel or other portions of the motor vehicle where they are readily observed by the driver, and it has been a conventional practice to provide independent display portions for the abnormal operating state display device and response display device, despite the fact that these two devices have an extremely small indicating frequency with a low working efficiency as compared with the time indicating device, (i.e.--clock) which continuously indicates the time.
The conventional arrangement as described above, however, has disadvantages in that it is difficult to secure sufficient mounting space concentrated at a limited position which may be readily inspected by a driver, and the display indications can not be conveniently read, if such display portions are not centralized at one position.